Morocco : Mohamed VI, a very sick king

Tags : Morocco, Mohammed VI, sickness,

The health of the Moroccan monarch has deteriorated sharply. He suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His weakness has led him to reduce his already limited activity even further.

At the end of his speech, his son, Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, removes the chair his father was sitting on so King Mohamed VI can stand up without stumbling. The King of Morocco struggled to stay upright as the country’s national anthem played before and after he delivered his annual Throne Day speech on July 29.

These images add to other more recent ones where the 61-year-old monarch appears to be very weak. He seemed fatigued when, on July 14, he decorated athlete Soufiane El Bakkali, Olympic gold medalist in Paris, at his palace in Tetouan. The audience was very brief, and the footage shown on television was carefully edited to present the king in the best possible light.

Television, however, could not edit the live broadcast of his speech, which inaugurated the fall session of Parliament this Friday. However, the cameras avoided focusing on the king when he stood up after his speech. During that and other moments, the cameras lingered on showing the chamber, filled with deputies dressed in white djellabas, a color symbolizing respect and submission to the monarchy.

Mohamed VI has never been a great orator, but this speech was one of the most painful. In just nine minutes, he read a text in a monotone and trembling voice without lifting his eyes. He appeared to be breathing with some difficulty. On the way to Parliament, a 25-year-old man threw a Molotov cocktail at the royal convoy, which caused no harm. He was immediately arrested.

Beyond these public episodes, which Moroccans could see and comment on, other non-public details reveal the worsening health of the Alawite sovereign. The beiaa, the annual oath of loyalty by notables to the sovereign, took place outdoors in Tetouan on July 31 but was reduced to just 17 minutes. In past years, the ceremony was much longer.

The king’s summer holidays in Rincón (known as M’diq to Moroccans) were interrupted by a couple of trips in his B747 jet to Rabat, lasting only a few hours, for treatment at the Mohamed V military hospital.

Mohamed VI has suffered for years from Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder that can cause hypothyroidism, and from COPD, which reduces airflow and causes breathing difficulties. Though the king no longer smokes, this latter and more serious illness has worsened over the past year, according to sources familiar with his health.

Additionally, the king has undergone two surgeries: the first in Paris in 2018, and the second in Rabat in 2020, for atrial flutter, a type of cardiac arrhythmia. In both cases, the Royal House later reported the success of the operations. However, there has been silence regarding his current health status.

As in previous years, Mohamed VI planned to spend part of the summer in Al Hoceima, likely arriving by sailboat from Rincón aboard his yacht, Badis 1. However, due to fatigue, he abandoned the plan, as well as a private trip to New York, according to sources familiar with his vacation plans.

He did, however, visit his favorite city, Paris. From September 18 to October 8, he stayed at his small palace near the Eiffel Tower, which he purchased four years ago for 80 million euros. Unlike in previous years, he was not seen walking through the streets or dining in any restaurants. He went out very few times, only at night, for brief car rides.

He was accompanied in Paris by two of the three Azaitar brothers, German-Moroccan martial arts experts who became part of his life in April 2018. Later, they were joined by Yusef Kaddur, a former martial arts professional from Melilla, who also became part of the king’s informal entourage.

During his Paris stay, Mohamed VI did not meet with President Emmanuel Macron, even though Franco-Moroccan relations were reconciled after years of tension on July 30. The reconciliation was achieved thanks to a message from the French head of state to the king, with concessions on Western Sahara that went beyond those made by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in his letter to the monarch on March 14, 2022.

The Élysée Palace hinted to the press that Mohamed VI would attend the summit of Francophone heads of state and government, held in early October in Villers-Cotterêts and Paris. Despite being in Paris, the king declined the invitation.

Macron is scheduled to make a state visit to Morocco on October 28–29. It will be, as dictated by Moroccan protocol, the shortest of such visits that the French president has made. The sovereign’s health suggests that it should be brief. So far in 2024, the king has only received one foreign dignitary, the Spanish president, in Rabat this past February. The meeting lasted less than an hour. Exactly one year earlier, he had canceled a meeting with Sánchez, extending his vacation in Pointe-Denis (Gabon).

Beyond finalizing the reconciliation, Macron seeks, with his trip to Rabat, objectives similar to those achieved by his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, in Marrakech in October 2007: securing railway contracts. Seventeen years ago, Sarkozy won a no-bid contract for French companies to build the high-speed rail line from Tangier to Kenitra. Now, the line is to be extended to Marrakech.

The monarch’s poor health no longer allows him to oversee daily affairs in his kingdom. His main advisor, Fouad Ali El Himma, already a key figure, has become even more important. El Himma, 61, effectively acts as Morocco’s viceroy and was also ill but successfully treated in the U.S.

Security is in the hands of Abdellatif Hammouchi, 58, the first in Morocco’s history to simultaneously head both the National Security (police) and the powerful and feared General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (the secret police).

The crown prince, Moulay Hassan, 21, is studying governance and law at a private university (UM6P) and a public one in Rabat. However, he rarely attends classes.

El Confidencial, 15/10/2024